Sowing trouble: When pets and plants collide
With an overdue spring finally coming into its own, it’s time for many of us to start spending some time in the garden. Whether you’re planting vegetables for the table or decorative plants to brighten up the yard, you can be pretty sure that your pets are going to be keen on inspecting the greenery. [...]
Heat of the moment: Keeping pets cool in hot weather
Charlottesville has no shortage of things to do outdoors in the summer, and we’re lucky to live somewhere that pets are often just as welcome as people. From dog-friendly parks and hiking trails to Downtown restaurants that happily serve bowls of water to their canine dinner guests, there are worse places to have four legs. [...]
The diagnosis that wasn’t: Understanding kennel cough
I’ve completely lost track of how many coughing dogs I’ve seen in the last month or two. They come in honking like geese and hacking up slime. Yup, there’s a nasty case of kennel cough touring Charlottesville, and it seems nobody is safe (well… nobody who happens to be a dog). But wasn’t your dog [...]
Will you still feed me? Facing the challenges of an aging pet
It can feel so unnatural to watch our pets grow old. It’s just not what we imagine when they first come into our lives. I was in high school when I got my first dog—a Lhasa Apso puppy I named Opus. I loved him dearly. He became part of my identity through college, vet school, [...]
Enough is enough: The importance of spaying and neutering
“So, is it really necessary to… you know?” asks the anxious new puppy owner as he unwittingly extends two fingers of his free hand into the form of scissors. The short answer? Yes. Yes, it really is. And for so many reasons. Here’s the sad truth: There are literally millions of homeless dogs and cats [...]
When less is more: Getting overweight pets down to size
As we roll toward the end of January, I gather a lot of us have New Year’s resolutions that are already unraveling and set to expire by Groundhog Day. C’est la vie—in 11 short months, you can give it another shot. In the meantime, maybe it’s time to provide some surrogate willpower to those who [...]
Thinking inside the box: What to do when your cat isn’t using the litter box properly
Question: My cat can’t seem to figure out how to use her litterbox. She pees in it just fine, but poops on the floor next to it. Any ideas? Most cats are really easy to litter train. In most cases, it’s just a matter of giving them a litter box and letting them figure out [...]
Animal enamel: Brushing is the secret to your pet’s healthy teeth
Think of the worst toothache you ever had. Try to remember how it drove you nuts until you finally got the problem taken care of. Now try to remember some other things about the experience. How did the tooth look? Pretty normal, I bet, just like the rest of your teeth. And did it make [...]
Ach-tongue, baby: What foods aren’t safe for pets?
One of the joys of having pets is sharing. We share our homes, our families—our entire lives—with them. And sometimes that means we share our food. Truth is, most “people food” is absolutely fine for animals (at least in moderation). But some things we eat just don’t sit well in fuzzier stomachs, and are best [...]
Teaching pets the difference between your home and a toilet
Watching a happy puppy or kitten bounce around the living room, it’s hard to imagine anything that isn’t perfectly adorable about your new friend. Of course, the first time you find a pile of poop under the coffee table, you might adjust your assessment. And then you step barefoot in a warm puddle on your [...]